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In This Update:
Nigeria's Growing Housing Crisis
Former Favela Residents Face Housing Hardships After Government Relocation
Hong Kong Plans to Build Two New Islands to Address Housing and Land Shortage
Tourism in San Juan, Puerto Rico May Be Pushing Out Locals
UN-Habitat Praises Botswana's Efforts to Improve its Human Settlements
The World Bank Wants to Expand Dar es Salaam's Public Spaces and Parks
Tam Tam Mobile Initiative Helps Clean Up Yaounde Slum
In the News and Around the Web
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Nigeria's Growing Housing Crisis
Only 30% of Nigeria's 200 million population have access to decent housing and 80 million Nigerians live in slums, writes Mohammed Momoh at 7D News. Slums are a problem across Nigeria, particularly in major cities Abuja, Lagos, and Port Harcourt where the high cost of securing and registering land, inadequate access to finance, and slow administrative procedures impede homeownership. Stakeholders in the real estate sector are asking the government to pay attention to the broader implications of a struggling housing market and especially the "high cost of the diagonal impact that the housing sector as on the economy. Responding to the nearly negligible impact of banking and finance institution investments on national housing, the Nigerian federal government has pledged to raise USD $1.64 billion for housing over the next five years.
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Former Favela Residents Face Housing Hardships After Government Relocation
Between 2010 and 2014, the Brazilian government evicted and relocated approximately 685 families from the Metrô Mangueira favela in Rio de Janeiro. The government proposed to "change the situation of vulnerability and offer more dignified living conditions to residents," but both the eviction process and housing relocation have negatively affected former Metrô Mangueira residents. During the eviction period when some refused to leave their homes, the Brazilian government cut off electricity, water, and garbage collection, resulting in new health hazards and higher levels of crime. When they moved to new housing provided as compensation for eviction, residents were charged unexpected apartment expenses. One resident explains: "We didn't ask to leave. It was them [the government] who took us out of there. So we shouldn't have to pay. That is what is right. They made a promise to us."
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Hong Kong Plans to Build Two New Islands to Address Housing and Land Shortage
Hong Kong, the world's most expensive real estate market, will create new surrounding islands to address its lack of affordable housing and developable land, but some of the plan's opponents worry about its environmental impact. The Lantau Tomorrow project will build one 2500 acre island and one 1700 acre island, and promises to 150,000-260,000 housing units. The government promises to earmark 70% of these new units for public housing, a significant move given that the current wait time for public housing is 5 years and 3 months. But many are wary about the environmental toll of Lantau Tomorrow on the local and marine environment. One expert explains: "We've got to make sure any islands won't be obstructing any flow paths... or fish-breeding grounds or bird areas, or fish themselves.
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Tourism in San Juan May Be Pushing Out Locals
Increasing tourism and urban renewal in San Juan, Puerto Rico has become a point of tension between government officials and city residents. For the Puerto Rican government, tourism, as well as housing development, is critical for reviving San Juan's economy two years after Hurricane Maria. But community members, particularly in low-income neighborhoods, assert that tax incentives for outside investors and developers has led to the construction of rental properties for tourists, at the cost of rising rents that push out young people and poorer families from San Juan neighborhoods. One local explains how new housing development benefits companies like Airbnb rather than poorer San Juan residents: "My friends' leases were being cancelled or not being renewed because the owners felt they wanted to do short-term leases instead of renting...those could have potentially been apartments for families to rent."
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UN-Habitat Praises Botswana's Efforts to Improve its Human Settlements
Botswana has made impressive strides towards improving its cities and settlements, says UN-Habitat. During Botswana President Erik Mokgweetsi Masisi's recent visit to UN offices in Nairobi, UN-Habitat Executive Director Maimunah Mohd Sharif said: "Botswana is one of the few African countries that has consistently over many years allocated annual public sector funding - towards both urban and rural housing development." Botswana is one of four pilot countries participating in the UN-Habit project: "SDG 11: Monitoring and Reporting on Human Settlement Indicators in Africa and Latin America," that will strengthen the capacity of national and city authorities as well as local and national stakeholders to gauge city performance and create cross-sectoral policies. Botswana is currently implementing the project in Gaborone and Francistown.
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The World Bank Wants to Expand Dar es Salaam's Public Spaces and Parks
In Tanzania, the World Bank financed Dar es Salaam Metropolitan Development Project hopes to expand the number and quality of public spaces in the capital city. Dar es Salaam is one of Africa's most rapidly urbanizing cities. Approximately 1,000 people arrive each day and experts predict the city's population will rise to over 10 million by 2030. According to the Bank, Dar es Salaam's public spaces and parks, have suffered from rapid urbanization and urban sprawl. Dar Open Spaces Upgrading program, an initiative of the Development Project, will help strengthen the city's green infrastructure and enhance a number of open spaces for inclusive and recreational use. More broadly, Bank experts assert, greening Tanzania's capital will support socioeconomic outcomes by improving air quality and community health, increasing the appeal of business and residential areas, and reducing the potential impact of floods.
Read more here.
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Tam Tam Mobile Initiative Helps Clean Up
Yaoundé
is Slum
In Yaoundé, Cameroon, a local garbage collection project is helping clean up the Melen slum while also providing employment for over 60 young men and women. Simon-Pierre Etoga, now 56, started Tam Tam Mobile in 1997, when he bought a wheelbarrow, a machete, and began to collect trash around his parents' house and bring it to a dumpsite, because Melen, like many informal settlements around the world, is disconnected from the city's public garbage disposal system. With support from the UN-Habitat Participatory Slum Upgrading Program (PSUP), Tam Tam Mobile, now largely self-financing, has expanded to serving 300 households. PSUP, with further support from UN-Habitat local partner Recherche-Action of Cameroon, has provided skills training, materials like gloves and wheelbarrows, and widened the roads in slums to facilitate access to dump sites.
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In the News and Around the Web
- When Cities Go Global: Political scientist Ian Bremmer interviews the mayors of Bristol, Freetown, and Milan on what they see as the world's most pressing urban challenges.
- World Food Programme Suspends Humanitarian Food Assistance to Sana'a: The humanitarian organization has temporarily stopped food assistance in the Yemeni capital city.
- European Cities Face Record Heat Temperatures: Europe's cities are not prepared for this summer's record-breaking heat.
- Is Rent Control Making a Comeback?: Brookings Institution Fellow Jenny Schuetz explains the arguments for and against rent control.
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The Melen slum in Yaounde, Cameroon (
UN-Habitat/
Kirsten Milhahn
)
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